A Thorn and His Rose
by Zoggerific
Summary: An embittered agent in the Guardian Unit of Nations and a spunky spitfire. The best of friends, close comrades and the most unlikely of couples you'll ever see on the face of Mobius: a collection of one-shots.
1. Fiddle

**Fiddle**

Shadow cracked open the weathered case with the same degree of care reserved for cradling an infant. The case flies open with a crisp snap and a deep, overpowering whiff of varnish and old velvet wafted forth.

He pulled his fiddle out carefully, puffing dust away from its smooth red body, rubbing the bow along the lump of rosin. At once, the rich hint of pine wafted forth as he before raising the fiddle to his chin. He smiled and winked at her attentive audience. Then he brings her bow to strings and starts out slow, and starts humming out to the tune of Dixie while Amy Rose sits and sways to the mournful tune, enraptured.

 _"Oh, I wish I were in the land of cotton, Old times there are not forgotten, Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land."_

Shadow finds himself blushing. He knew only a few tunes by heart that his beloved Maria had taught and didn't suspect for a moment that Amy would come to appreciate the folk song she did by nodding in tune with the beat. The G.U.N agent smiled and found himself adding on little trills and ornaments he normally wouldn't, and smiles a bit wider as each one makes Amy's eyes grow wider and wider.

Finally, Shadow losses his patience. He's had enough slow and sentimental for the night, and he casts off into a lively reel, fit for a square dance. Amy starts tapping her foot against the linoleum.

Shadow, grinning licks his lips and changed his tune to a bouncy little jig, chuckling as Amy bobbed her head in time with her foot. Shadow joined in the wild breakdown, stomping his own foot for emphasis, laughing wildly as Amy gets up, shaking her rump in a playful, wonderful way that'd never fly on the dance floor. But they're just in a room, the two of them, and it's perfect. The hairs on Shadow's bow are snapping left and right as he strummed his fiddle.

Amy swung in closer with every sway of her hips, closer and closer, still dancing as wild and free as she ever has. Shadow looks into Amy's playful, bright green eyes and suddenly loses himself in mad inspiration. Suddenly he's not just playing by rote, but letting musical instinct guide his fingers. Suddenly, he's not just ornamenting, he's creating. It feels wonderful. Unfortunately, all too soon, Shadow wound it down with a sharp chop of the strings. The final cadence still hanging into the air.

Amy erupted into applause, grinning so wide it looked like it hurt.

Shadow slid the fiddle over with a gentle grin. "Give it a go for me?" he prompted, leaning in close then giving Amy a swift peck on the cheek.

Amy grinned sheepishly. "I can't play the fiddle," Amy admitted.

Shadow smiles anyway.

"Well, do you wanna learn?" he asks. Amy nodded rapidly, her pink quills flying every which way.

Shadow slid in behind her and lifts the fiddle under Amy's chin, curling her hand around the neck and tucking the bow into her right. "Alright, you hold it like this. Then, you take the bow and set it lightly on the strings, and then you draw the bow along straight. You with me so far?" Amy nods, a bright smile dancing on her lips.

Already, Shadow knew it's gonna be a great night.


	2. Baking

**Baking**

Shadow hated mornings. No, that was an understatement, to say the least. His missions necessitated the lifestyle of a night owl, almost inevitably, when lives were at risk from the various threats that beset the United Federation: extra-terrestrial invaders like Black Doom and a resurgent Eggman. Many a lonely evening had been spent alone working into the wee hours of the night.

Shadow never complained. He was after all saving lives. Still, the toll of work often made him a late riser.  
But not this morning. This morning was different, and this morning was special. This particular morning, Shadow awoke while it was still pitch-black outside, stumbling out from his cosy bed with bleary eyes and cramped-up back. A quick glance out of his apartment showed an almost silent Central City with its usually bustling streets virtually deserted.

Almost.

Amy's place was too far away to see from his apartment, but Shadow knew that, if it had been visible, she would already be up and awake, preparing for a hard day of work at the bakery.

Groaning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he hurried downstairs and grabbed the bright pink scarf that hung by the front door. Years ago, to his considerable dismay, he had stained it in the washer and in spite of his herculean efforts he was unable to remove the stain. Consequently, it had stood, unused.

In the here and now, Shadow wrapped the scarf about his neck, taking a moment to appreciate its softness and warmth, before he stuffed it back into his pockets. He stepped out into the chill of an early autumn morning. He jogged through the empty streets of at a brisk clip, and he couldn't stop grinning to himself the entire way.

It wasn't until he heard the humming that came from the window above, faint yet unmistakable in its origin, that Shadow remembered why he was here.

Here Shadow was, always undertaking the daunting task of thinking of the whole world, all of its inhabitants, all of its places, all of its complexity. It wore on him but he had made a promise to his Maria long ago to make the world a safer place. But then Shadow turned his thoughts towards someone who, impossibly, could do all of that, who positively lived and breathed for the chance to meet and make friends with the whole entire world.

A warmth rose in his chest as he thought of her laughter and love. Of her green eyes, the colour of nature and of her smile, as strong as all his Chaos powers put together. Shadow smiling stepped through the door to Amy's apartment.

She has a new baking apprentice now, Cream. Yet, in spite of her inexperience, Amy never loses her smile or the sparkle in her eyes. She guides and cajoles, helping and calmly giving instructions in between giggles. Perhaps most miraculous of all is how fast Cream is learning.

Eventually, though all three of them have bits of batter sticking in their fur and clothes there's a plate of steaming fresh muffins to show for their efforts.

Baking lessons done for the day, Amy sends Cream off to man the counter below. Amy begins whistling cheerfully and completely off-key as she goes about cleaning. Shadow helps his fiance-to-be by wiping down the counters.

"Amy?"

Amy stops whistling. She turns toward him with a broad smile, her head tilted inquisitively. When she did, Shadow came to realize wasn't dark out anymore. The sun hung low in the east, bathing all of Central City in soft shades of yellow and orange, and before him stood the love of his life.

"You didn't use your powers today to help, thanks," she giggled.

He held his gift out.

"Is that-" Amy cut herself off with a little shake of the head and licked her lips. In a tone of soft wonder, she asked, "-for me?"

Shadow nodded, beaming, "Happy anniversary."A split second later, Shadow's on the floor, with a batter-dripping hedgehog pinning him down and peppering his face with a thousand little kisses. Shadow laughs. He supposes his little mistake came in handy after all.


	3. Forgiveness

**Forgiveness**

"So, where are we goin'?" Amy asked.

"We aren't going anywhere. I'm leaving and you need to stay," Shadow demanded.

"Pfft! Fat chance of that! What kind of friend would I be if I just let you face danger all by yourself? I've got my hammer-" Amy declared as she gave her piko piko hammer an experimental swing. "Whatever Eggman's got planned I'm sure I can handle it."

"You'd be a good friend! Can't you see that you're one of the few good things in my life? Good friends listen to one another, don't they? If you ever decide to listen to me, ever, let it be now. Leave me alone and let me go. If I don't make it back this time then forget about me. Everything will be better that way."

"Please," Amy gasped as tears welled up from the corner of her eyes. "I don't want to see you hurt."

"W-what would you have me do if you were standing in my place?" Shadow asked.

"I don't know Shadow. I'm not you."

"Exactly. Now, would you let me go?"

"It's not your job to watch over me! I have a duty. Chaos knows I don't want to go, but I have to! Otherwise, I won't be able to live with myself if you got hurt."

"Do you think I could live with myself if I let you go alone?" Amy asked. It was a rhetorical question and Shadow knew that. He hated just how well the pink hedgehog could seemingly read her innermost thoughts.

"C'mon," she continued. "There's gotta be another way!"

"I've tried. I've looked at it every way I could think of and this is the only way," Shadow blinked looking up and away so Amy couldn't see the first glistening drops of tears sliding down his face. "Please, forgive me for being selfish."

"NO!"

Shadow his voice wavering and in a barely audible tone whispered: "Chaos control" and soon vanished in a flash of golden light.

Amy dropped to her knees. She knew that he was probably halfway across the city by now; teleporting from rooftop to rooftop. As usual, it seemed she just couldn't keep up.

"I-it c-can't ever be fair c-can it?" There was silence in her apartment. Her baking equipment wouldn't talk back to her. However, much she wished they would answer back. "F-for what it's w-worth, I d-don't forgive you."


End file.
